


Discovery

by FanGirlofManyThings



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Asexual Character, Asexual Jughead Jones, F/M, Mentions of Sex, Mentions of Sexual Acts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-10-05 13:59:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17326331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanGirlofManyThings/pseuds/FanGirlofManyThings
Summary: Jughead doesn't want sex, he doesn't know why, he just doesn't. After a very awkward conversation Betty makes a suggestion that could help explain things.





	Discovery

**Author's Note:**

> This is loosely based on my own discovery of my asexuality with the help of my boyfriend.

Jughead stopped her hand as it fumbled with his belt buckle. “Don’t worry about me tonight, Betts.”

 

“You sure, Juggie?” She asked, looping both arms around his neck.

 

His shirt was already off, Betty found pleasure in running her finger nails down his back but he didn’t see a point in taking off his pants tonight. The climb to orgasm felt like too much effort tonight. Effort he’d rather expend on Betty’s pleasure. 

 

“Yeah,” He breathed into her mouth before kissing her again. 

 

Later, after he’d satisfied her with his fingers and his mouth, they were laying tangled together in his bed. He loved the soft feeling of her skin against his and that dopey little smile she got in her post-orgasm haze. 

 

Suddenly she pulled back, bracing one hand on his chest. She studied him for a moment.

 

“Are you sure you don’t want…” She trailed off, waving a hand at his crotch in lieu of finishing her sentence.

 

“I’m sure,” He pulled her closer, hoping that she wouldn’t ask anymore questions.

 

He knew that he needed to have a conversation with her about his feelings towards sex and it’s related activities but it’s awkward. So, like a child  he’s been avoiding it. 

 

It’s not that he dislikes sex or is repulsed by it, it’s more that he never thinks about it or wants it. Even when Betty is sitting on his lap and making out with him, he’d be just as content to not go any farther as he would be to help get her off. 

 

He knows that’s not normal. How could he not know, not with Archie always going on about his sex life with Veronica. But it’s also not something he feels like he needs to fix. This is part of him, for better or worse.

 

Betty let herself be swept up in his arms for a grand total of thirty seconds before she pulled away again. This time, she untangled herself fully, sitting up and folding her legs. The blanket slid down, exposing her breasts to the cold air, and pooled in her lap. A sigh escaped him, he knew where this is going. He rolled over onto his back, tucking one hand behind his head. She had her back to him, eyes, seemingly, fixed on the wall opposite his bed.

 

“Did I-“ She cut herself off. “Do you not find me attractive?”

 

“What?” He had not been expecting her to lead with that. “No, no. You’re beautiful, Betty.”

 

He sat up and joined her in staring at the wall, one knee bumping against hers. She nodded but he’s not sure she agrees with him.

 

“Then, did I do something wrong?” Her voice is laced with raw emotion.

 

He ran a hand through his hair, cursing himself. He should have known this was eating at her. That she would assume that t was something wrong with her. She was always putting the blame on herself.

 

He grabbed her hand, twining their fingers together. “No, Betty. You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just me.”

 

She turned her head, confusion written all over her face. “What do you mean?”

 

“I mean,” His free hand was in his hair again, he wished for the comfort of his beanie. “I mean that me not wanting to have sex with you or for you give me a blowjob or whatever has nothing to do with you.”

 

The crease between her eyebrows deepened. “I don’t understand, Jug.”

 

He dropped his hand, eyes falling to their joined hands. He wrestled with his thoughts for a minute, for a writer this was embarrassingly difficult to put into words. It felt like there were whole books worth of explanations filling his head and yet he struggled to voice any of it. 

 

He finally settled for simplicity.

 

“I have no desire for sex. With anyone, male or female. I’ve never looked at a woman and thought anything beyond ‘I’d really like to snuggle with her.’ And for a while now, the only person I ever think about like that is you, Betty.”

 

When she didn’t say anything for a long while, he looked up at her. He could practically see the gears turning behind her eyes. Thinking, she’s thinking, she’s always thinking. It’s one of the things he loves about her.

 

“What about doing things for me?” She asked eventually in a soft voice.

 

“Things like eating you out?” Jughead asked, just to make sure their on the same page.

 

She nodded, unwilling to meet his eye.

 

“I like making you happy.” He told her truthfully. “And if that’s something that makes you happy then I have no problem with it.”

 

“Are you sure?” Her voice is still quiet but she’s looking at him now. “I don’t want to force you to do things that make you uncomfortable.”

 

“Yes, I’m sure. Just because I don’t have any desire, doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to have your needs met.” He’s stroking the back of her hand with his thumb now. “Please don’t feel bad about wanting sex or asking me for it. Just know that I’m almost never going to be the one to start something.”

 

“I don’t want to make you do something you don’t want,” She told him.

 

“Betty, for you I’d do anything,” He vowed solemnly. “And trust me when I say I like having sex with you and doing other things. I like knowing that I can please you and I like the intimacy of it. But when I’m thinking of things I want to do with you at any given time, sex just isn’t on the list. Am I making sense?”

 

He’d started to feel like he was talking in circles, like nothing he said made sense. It wasn’t until he’d started dating Betty that he’d come to realize that there might be something different about him. This was all new to him and trying to explain something he didn’t quite have his head around was not a very comfortable experience.

 

“Sort of,” Betty dragged the words out like she wasn’t quite sure. “So long as you’re okay with what we do.”

 

“I am, I promise and just like tonight if I’m not really feeling it, I’ll let you know.” He let go of her hand.

 

“Okay.” She smiles at him.

 

“Lay back down with me?” He asked. “I’d like to hold you for a little longer before you have to go.

 

She nodded and followed him back down on to the pillows.

 

***

 

Two days later she approached him at school, after the final bell. She looked nervous, fiddling with a slip of paper in her hands. He shut his locker, sliding his messenger bag over his shoulder.

 

“What’s up, Betty?”

 

She glanced down at the paper and then back up at him. “I couldn’t stop thinking about our talk the other night and I did some looking online. There are other people who feel the same way you do, Jug. Or at least I think there are.”

 

“There are?” He asked incredulously. 

 

He’d never really thought to research what he felt online. It had never occurred to him that other people might feel the same way. To be completely fair he hadn’t even given his opinion on sex much thought until recently. 

 

“Yeah, based on what you said, I think there are. But you should look for yourself.” She shoved the paper at him.

 

He took it but she’d folded it so he can’t see what was written on it. “Thank you, Betty.”

 

“I have to get to Vixen’s practice but I’ll see you at Pop’s later, right?” She’d already taken a step back from him.

 

“You know I’ll be there.” He smirked at her.

 

He watches her retreat down the hallway, ponytail swinging in time with her steps. It wasn’t until she’d turned the corner and out of view that he looked down at the paper. Slowly, almost like he was  afraid of what might be written there, he unfolded the paper. Two things stared back at him in Betty’s neat handwriting.

 

_ Asexual _

_ asexuality.org _

 

Asexual? Didn’t they learn about that in biology? Wasn’t that how single celled organisms reproduce? What did that have to do with him and not wanting sex?

 

Before he had time to think about it further someone was standing in front of him. Hurriedly he crumpled the paper and shoved it in his pocket.

 

“What’s that?’ Archie asked nodding at his pocket.

 

“Nothing,” He said quickly and perhaps a little suspiciously.

 

Mercifully Archie let it go, launching into a speech about something Veronica needed him to do and that he was trying to rope Jughead into.

 

***

 

After escaping Archie with a promise, that yes he would help with Veronica’s hairbrained scheme, he found himself at Pop’s diner sitting in front of an open word document. He had been hoping to get some more work done on his story or at least some editing but he was coming up short. Betty’s suggestion was clogging his mind, making it impossible to write anything. 

 

With a sigh, he minimized the document. It wasn’t like he was getting anywhere, anyway. He might as well look at what Betty had found. As he waited for the browser to load he fished the crumpled paper out of his pocket. By the time he had it flattened out, the cursor for the search bar was blinking at him.

 

Slowly he typed in the website that Betty had written down. He took a deep breath and hit enter.

 

The banner on the website told him this was the website for  _ The Asexual Visibility & Education Network _ and that “an asexual person is a person who does not experience sexual attraction”. There was a button next to the definition prompting him to “learn more”. He followed it and quickly lost the next hour exploring the site and it’s forum. 

 

The next thing he knew, Betty was sliding into the booth across from him, milkshake in hand. 

 

He quickly exited the site and shut his laptop, pushing it to the side. He didn’t really have a good reason to be secretive except that he still wasn’t sure yet. He needed time to process.

 

“Get any writing done?” Betty asked before taking a sip of her shake.

 

“Sort of,” Jughead said with a sideways glance at his laptop.

 

“Good.” Betty beamed at him before launching into a story about something terrible Cheryl had done at practice today. 

 

Jughead let himself get swept away in her story, being sure to gasp when appropriate and interject comments about Cheryl’s general bitchiness as needed. 

 

It’s not until much later, when he was laying in bed that he let himself really think about what he’d read on the website. Turning the words they’d used over in his head. Trying to pick apart the meanings and apply them to himself. Considering what each word meant to him and every interaction he’d ever had with the fairer sex. 

 

***

 

He didn’t talk to Betty about it for a week. She never brought it up and he was grateful for that. He spent the whole week fluttering between whether the word applied to him or not. Or any of the various options along the sliding spectrum that the site had suggested. Or none.

 

He looked over the top of his laptop at Betty, they’re sitting in the Blue and Gold office, working on their respective articles. She was staring at her laptop screen, twirling a pen in her hand. A clear sign that while she was thinking about her article, he was free to distract her without having her head bitten off for interrupting her process.

 

Jughead cleared his throat and lowered his laptop screen. Questioning clear in her eyes, she looked up at him.

 

“What’s up Jug?”

 

“If I say I’m asexul, does that change anything between us?” He asked.

 

The one thought that he hadn’t been able to shake all week was that, if he gave himself this label, she wouldn’t want to date him. That she wouldn’t consider him able to fill her needs any more. The logical part of his brain told him that Betty was dating him for more than just the sex but he still couldn’t get rid of the worry.

 

“No, never.” Betty said firmly. 

 

Jughead nodded. “That’s good because I’m pretty sure I am.”

 

He thought the definition fit him well enough but it still felt a little foreign. The site had given him a whole list of options to choose from but the only one that had felt right was just plain asexual. He had come to the conclusion that he wasn’t aromantic, though. A branch, so to speak, of acesexuality that delt with romance. Romance was definitely something he desired. Holding Betty’s hand, going on dates, maybe one day in the far future, watching her walk down the aisle, these were all things he wanted.

 

Betty nodded once in acknowledgment, eyes never leaving his face. “Does it feel good to have a word for it?”

 

He contemplated this question for a moment before answering. “In a way, I suppose it does. Though I doubt I’ll tell many people. It’s not like it really affects them.”

 

Maybe one day he’ll tell Archie but that’s the only person, if only because he’s his best friend and they tell each other everything. Other than that, he couldn’t really see a reason that anyone else needed to know. 

 

“Understandable. So long as you’re comfortable, Jug. That’s what matters.” She told him. 

 

“Please don’t say anything to anyone else?” He asked, raising his laptop screen again.

 

“Never,” She said it with promise laced in her voice.

 

He figured that’s the end of their conversation, they really do need to finish these articles but then there’s the scrape of her chair. Suddenly she was at his elbow. He looked up at her and found her looking down at him, looking a little lost.

 

“Whats up, Betts?” He smirks as he repeats her line from moments ago.

 

“Can I kiss you?” Her voice is soft as she asked.

 

“You never have to ask permission to kiss me,” He told her already turning to face her.

 

There was a smile on her face as she leaned down. His eyes slipped closed as she pressed her lips firmly against his. They lingered, trading small kisses for a moment before she pulled back, to remind him about their deadline.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos are appreciated!


End file.
